Search near Dixon for Aurora boy comes up empty

Clues elusive into whereabouts of 6-year-old a week after disappearance

May 19, 2011|By Ted Gregory, Tribune Reporter

A dog aids police in their search Thursday in Castle Rock State Park for evidence in Timothy Pitzen's disappearance. (Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune)

DIXON, Ill. — Authorities searched state parks, woods and remote roads across northwestern Illinois but came up empty Thursday in their hunt for a 6-year-old Aurora boy missing since his mother's apparent suicide in a Rockford motel room last weekend.

Aided by bloodhounds, two planes and several all-terrain vehicles, about 70 investigators searched more than 25 sites in the Dixon area — about 100 miles west of Chicago — where Amy Fry-Pitzen, 43, and her son, Timothy Pitzen, last spoke to relatives by cellphone May 13.

The next day, Fry-Pitzen was found dead in a Rockford motel room. A note stated she had left her son in the care of a responsible, unnamed friend.

Investigators expressed frustration Thursday after a day of searching failed to turn up any clues.

"We all knew going in that the chances weren't great that we'd find anything, but we wanted to give it our best shot and get boots on the ground," said Aurora police Lt. Pete Inda.

As authorities planned the next step in their investigation, they acknowledged being "increasingly concerned" about Timothy's welfare, according to Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli.

Earlier in the week, police were encouraged by the note and the fact that the boy's car seat and Spider-Man backpack were missing from the 2004 Ford Expedition Fry-Pitzen was driving, possibly indicating she had dropped Timothy off with a friend or acquaintance.

Fry-Pitzen's funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sugar Grove. Timothy's grandmother, Linda Pitzen, said the family has spent the days since Timothy disappeared praying and handing out fliers and putting up posters from Sterling, Ill., to Walcott, Iowa.

"We're just hanging in there," she said. "We're preparing to bury my daughter-in-law on Saturday and we're hoping to have my grandson back by then."

One flier with the boy's photo and description was in the window of DND Travel Plaza in Dixon, where police Wednesday reviewed security camera video, suspecting the boy had stopped there, said cashier Karla Schaefer. But the boy on the video was someone else, she said.

"You can't really give up," Schaefer said. "I wouldn't ever give up until my kid was found, but I'd be doing a hell of a lot of praying."

At the Walmart store in Dixon where another flier was displayed near an exit, kindergarten teacher Elaine Hann, of Dixon, noted that Timothy is the same age as the students she's taught for 36 years in nearby Nelson. Hann called the disappearance "extremely sad," and, like many people, added that she hopes Timothy is safe.

"We all know suicide is a cry for help," Hann said. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of situations where the kids get caught in the middle of all that."

Timothy is described as being about 4 feet 2 inches, around 70 pounds, and having brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Aurora police at 630-256-5500, or local authorities at 911.